It looks like she could have some terrier or border collie from the white. & Given your recent picture, she 100% got some Shepherd. She's also 100% super cute! :grin:
Yesterday was Mutt Day, so here is a little update on my pup. Shes 8 months old now. This first picture is from when she was about 5 months. Bottom ones are from last few days.
Meant to include this one. She has definitely filled out the shelf that she used to sleep in here in my office.
Bumping my thread so I dont have to start a new one, but I have a question for other dog owners. My pup is now almost 1 year old and seems to have fear aggression. She growls at strangers and even barks from time to time. She has not ever bitten anyone in an aggressive manor (only playful puppy biting) so there isnt an issue with that but I am afraid it is leading to that. So my question is, seeing that she obviously needs some training, have any of you had a dog with this type of aggression that stems from fear of strangers? Did you hire a professional or do it yourself? I have found a few trainers here in the Houston area and the cheapest price I found was $750 for a 4 week program, meeting 1 time per week. That does not seem like enough training time for the price. And of course, here is the girl now all grown up:
Don't know if it works for you, but we just took our dog out more to public places to get him used to strangers.
Was she well socialized during her socialization window as a puppy? The 6-14 week time period is critical for a puppy they figure out what's safe in the world. You can try slowly socializing her in a environment where is less anxious but some dogs just naturally do not like strangers and you have to respect that. My akita loved everyone in the family and was the biggest teddy bear in the world but I knew he didn't like other children or strangers. When people asked him if it was okay to pet him I always said no. He was never aggressive or would attack without being provoked but I knew he didn't want some random strangers hand touching his head He did get a lot better as he aged but I still avoided any strangers petting him. Good luck.
That may be it. I adopted her at 8 weeks and for the next 5-6 weeks she mainly stayed locked up at home while I was at work, so not much socialization. I finally started bringing her to work. She is good with my coworkers but it took time for her to warm up 100% to them. Its just when we have a customer walk in our office she immediately starts to growl. It has slowly gotten a bit more intense and the other day she slowly walked up to a really tall man who attempted to pet her top head (that is a NO NO) and she let out a nasty bark and trotted off. My only choice at the moment is to leave her at home but she will be locked up for 8 hours. I really do not want to do that. I do take her out a lot when we go to dog friendly bars and restaurants, so she does get out quite a bit. I also take her to the dog park but she always ends up getting picked on by other dogs and she gets extremely scared. Its sad. Also when walking her she almost always walks super low to the ground on high alert and has really bad anxiety. Hopefully as time goes on, like you said, she will get better. I am just afraid of letting this go on too long and it becomes who she is for the rest of her life.
Treats are your friend Take a lesson from maillmen, UPS/FedEX carriers. They win over strange dogs all the time with treats. Dogs recognize their uniforms on the streets, without even knowing the person or not. View it from the strangers perspective. If alll strangers in the world had treats, your dog would love them all. And over time even the ones without treats. So, have strangers help you train your dog with treats. Not on the street unless they ask to pet your dog. But at work and home. At work, give coworker and their friends treats to give her. Even ppl she know, if they give her a treat upon approaching, she might start associating all human contact as possible treat-related, later even strangers without treats. Even friendly clients, especially if they want to pet her. At home, put a treat bag outside your door. Anytime someone comes over (stranger or friend) have them grab a treat before entering. Also, I do know Cesar Milan teaches owner not to let dogs own the door. They stay in the other room within eyesight of you opening the door, but they can't bark at it. And you give them treats again. And slowly let them get closer to the door Of course, get little treats. Don't want her fat.
Agree with all of this. If you find that you are giving what you think to be too many treats, adjust their meal size. A lot of treats = smaller size meals.
